Learning from the past
by Gravaja Umbros
Summary: Matthew and Isaac have been fighting. Matthew is furious until he learns a few things. Like Isaac's relationship with Mia and Jenna. Mudshipping, agrees with canon, with some Spiritshipping on the side. Part of the "Kindred Spirits" story.
1. Learning from the Past

Author's Notes: Well, this is a little story idea that's been floating around in my head since… well, since Dark Dawn was announced. Not always in this form, mind you. Being the diehard mudshipper I am, when I heard they were making a third Golden Sun, I was ecstatic but also realized the problem. What if valeshipping is made canon? After all, I did actually think that if any pairing became canon, valeshipping was the more likely candidate. Didn't mean I liked it, but that's what I thought. So I started coming up with various ways I could potentially make mudshipping work without going against canon. I had everything from "Drunken one-night stand leads to shotgun wedding" to "elaborate hoax even the children are unaware of all made so that on the chance Alex is alive he won't believe that a child of the Mercury Clan exists who's inherited Isaac's portion of the Golden Sun". When I saw the characters I had varying ways I could change these plans depending on which new characters were the children of which old ones. Then the game came out and I reserved picking which excuse I would go with until I had beaten it and saw what worked best. What follows is none of the ideas I came up with beforehand, but an idea that grew as I played the game. This makes mudshipping happen without going against anything canon, and all nicely wrapped up in spiritshipping goodness. Enjoy!

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><p>Matthew sat on the bridge near lookout cabin, fuming. His father could be so insufferable at times. Usually Matthew was inclined to agree with his father, but Isaac would never admit to being wrong even on those few occasions when he was. And he felt he was so experienced and wise that he had an opinion on everything.<p>

"He's so impossible," Matthew growled.

Matthew felt the bridge shake and looked up. He had been expecting Isaac, trying to once more explain why his advice should be followed. Instead, Garet had joined him on the bridge. Garet sat down next to Matthew and let his legs dangle off the edge, the same way Matthew was sitting.

"Quite the shouting match you and your dad had back there."

"Not really. I was the only one shouting. Dad just sits there quietly until you're done and then speaks with that… pitying voice!"

Garet nodded, understanding all too well how fruitless it was to argue with Isaac. "Wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't always right."

"But this time he's not right! I mean sure, he's travelled the world and saved it, and met all kinds of people, and had all sorts of experiences, but he has never been in a situation like this! He has no idea what it's like."

Garet shrugged. "Isaac's pretty smart. He usually feels that even if he hasn't been in that situation he's been somewhere close enough, or else he's known someone who was there."

"So are you on his side then?"

"Not on anybody's side yet. I have no clue what your fight is about."

Matthew huffed. "So I suppose this is where I explain everything so you can be mediator and we can all work out our problems."

"Yup," Garet nodded. "Unless you think Tyrell's better suited for it."

"Yeah, right." Tyrell was Matthew's best friend, but he could be really lousy dealing with people. "Fine," Matthew conceded. "I admitted to dad that while I enjoy keeping in touch with all my friends from the Grave Eclipse incident, it was awkward corresponding with Sveta."

"The Queen of Morgal you're always talking about?"

"I'm not always talking about her." Garet raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I… mention her a bit more than the others. But, I'm not always… okay, fine. You got me."

Garet chuckled. "So what's awkward about it? Haven't told her you love her yet? Or maybe you did and she told you she wasn't ready? 'Cuz you're certainly not mopey enough for her to have just said 'no'."

Matthew sighed. "I would try to protest your jumping from 'talk about her all the time' to 'in love with her' but if we're really doing this mediation thing then we'd get there sooner or later anyway. Still, I wish the problem was one of those you suggested," Matthew said, hanging his head. "I told her, and she said she loved me too. But it's complicated. She's queen and Morgal's in some difficult political times. We talked it over, quite extensively, and realized it couldn't work. So we said goodbye."

"Oh my," Garet said quietly. Matthew looked up to see Garet had gone pale. "No need to tell me what happened with your dad, then. Isaac insisted you go after her. He couldn't accept that you couldn't make it work."

"Yes," Matthew nodded. "Garet, what is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Garet shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Matthew, I'm afraid you don't know as much about your father as you think. Isaac would be very interested in your situation, because he doesn't want history repeating itself."

"History?" Matthew scoffed. "Mom and dad were together for years, and when they did split up it wasn't anything like this. They just… couldn't keep going like that." Matthew became more subdued and quiet as he spoke of his mother. "They just weren't in love anymore."

"You don't understand. But that's not your fault. Your father never speaks of it, especially to you." Garet scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not really sure it's my place to tell you. But it's something you need to hear, and I'm not sure Isaac would tell you. Not the whole story, anyway."

"Just tell me."

"Alright. See, you need to understand that Isaac loves you. He's glad for your sake that he got together with Jenna. But other than that, it's the biggest regret of Isaac's life. I guess I should start thirty years ago.

"Isaac, Jenna, and I were always great friends. And we all loved each other, but as friends. Isaac and I never felt more than that. But Jenna did. Jenna loved Isaac. For how long I don't know, but by the time the elemental stars were stolen she was in love. Isaac was ignorant of this.

"Soon, we went to Imil. You're well aware of what happened there, and Mia joined the group. Only a week or two after that Ivan and I were betting how long it would take for Isaac and Mia to get together."

"Wait a minute," Matthew interrupted. "You guys thought dad and Mia were going to be a couple?" Matthew had a hard time wrapping his mind around that. "That's crazy," he chuckled.

"Mogall Forest."

Matthew was confused. "What?"

"You know the story, right? You know when we got to Mogall Forest?"

"Sure," Matthew said. "That was about a month after Imil."

"That's how long it took for Isaac and Mia to start dating."

Matthew's jaw dropped. It took him a moment before he could speak again. "Now… we're eventually relating this to me and Sveta. So, are you saying that dad always loved Mia, and Mia loved him, and they both knew it, and they decided that they couldn't be together anyway?"

"Well, you're getting a bit ahead of the story, but yeah."

"What happened? I can't even imagine it."

"Well, Isaac and Mia stayed together throughout the rest of our travels. They were such a happy couple. Of course they had their ups and downs, but there was little doubt that after our journey they would settle down together and start a family.

"Finally, the power of the Golden Sun was unleashed. You know Vale was destroyed, but it wasn't the only place. There was lots of destruction. One such place was Imil."

"But the people survived. The Wise One warned Mia's apprentices," Matthew said, having heard the story before.

"Yes. And Imil rebuilt quickly. It's at the foot of the Mercury Lighthouse, and the only easy way there. So it's also the only way to the Water of Hermes. Imil quickly became hugely powerful and wealthy because of this. And as the world divided into those who were pro Warriors of Vale and those who were anti Warriors of Vale, we were surprised to see Imil on the anti side. Oh, they still loved their angel Mia, but they were totally against Isaac and the rest of us."

"Really? Whenever I've been there they seemed… alright. Sure, not the most welcoming, but nothing like those towns that blamed dad for 'ending the world'."

"Yeah, well, it's been years, and they've relaxed a little. And Mia always argued for us as well. I think they've moved most of the 'blame' to Felix now, but they think we all participated in fooling Mia to destroy the world and their town. As if the whole time we were in Imil we were rubbing our hands together saying, 'we'll get you soon enough and destroy all that you love.' Anyway, this strained Isaac and Mia's relationship. Mia loved Imil and its people and she couldn't give them up. But the longer they were together, the more the Imilians complained. So they finally broke up. Isaac would still visit Imil often, but just as friends. The Imilians still weren't pleased, but they stopped complaining. Of course they didn't know what happened on Isaac's visits as 'friends' or they would've thrown a fit."

"Hold up," Matthew interrupted. Matthew's whole perception of his father was being turned upside-down. "Dad and Mia broke up. And dad kept visiting Imil. And you're telling me that dad and Mia were sleeping together whenever he visited her as a 'friend'?"

"Yup."

"I think I need to scrub those images out of my brain before it shrivels and dies. Do you really need to tell me that much?"

"Actually, yeah. I do. See, Isaac and Mia had broken up. They had agreed to move on and date other people. Despite that, they weren't moving on. They never saw anyone else. And each time they got together they'd feel guilty and promise that it was the last time. But, inevitably, the next time they visited, they'd end up in the same situation again. Promising again that this was the last time."

"How do you know all this anyway?"

Garet shrugged. "I'm Isaac's best friend. He talks to me. Especially when he's upset and he can't talk to Mia. Some of this stuff he told me at that time, and some he told me later. But I promise you, none of this is just my best guess at what happened. I heard all of it straight from him."

"So, when did this finally stop? I mean, eventually mom and dad get together, and Mia married Rief's dad. Dad hardly ever even visited Imil in my memory."

"That all happened pretty abruptly," Garet said. "One visit to Imil happened just the same as the others. The next month Isaac goes to visit and everything was different. By the time he gets there Mia's been engaged to another man for a week, with the wedding was happening in just days' time."

"That's… sudden. From everything I know about Mia, she's always seemed very careful. I don't see why she would rush into something that important. I don't even see how she could if she and dad were really that close."

"None of us understood. Mia claimed she just couldn't keep going with Isaac the way they had been. She said she wanted to act quickly or she was afraid she wouldn't be able to act at all. We still didn't get it, not at first. But eight months after the wedding Mia gave birth to Nowell."

"Eight?" Matthew's mind was really spinning now. It wasn't hard to see where this was going.

"Mia said the baby was premature, though she was a fine weight and size. But some of us realized it was nine months after Isaac's visit, and the quick wedding made much more sense."

"Are you positive Nowell wasn't really premature? Absolutely positive?"

Garet nodded. "Isaac believed her. It wasn't until years later, but Mia eventually did tell Isaac he was the father."

They had never visited Imil often, so Matthew didn't even know Nowell that well. They barely even recognized each other when they met in Teppe Ruins. It was strange to think that they could be so closely related. "Nowell is my half-sister?"

"Yes. As I said, Isaac didn't learn that for years. Isaac saw Mia get married and have a child, and he was suffering. He tried to move on, just to forget Mia. Of course, Jenna was still in love with him, though she had all but given up. So Isaac and Jenna married, and had you. Mia and her husband had Rief, and everything looked like it would work out. But it didn't. Isaac just couldn't love Jenna. Not the way he loved Mia, and not the way Jenna loved him. They eventually got divorced. That was soon after Isaac learned Nowell was his daughter. He felt he had been a terrible person, because he had never realized and hadn't made himself a part of her life. But by that time it was too late. If Isaac tried it would've just confused and hurt Nowell. Mia divorced as well, though I don't know what finally broke that marriage. But neither marriage was ever truly happy."

"Why didn't Mia tell Isaac right way? And why did she finally tell him?"

"Well the first answer should be obvious. If Mia had told Isaac when she was pregnant, what would Isaac have done?"

Matthew thought about it. "He would've insisted on marrying her, probably."

"Exactly. That wouldn't have gone over well with the Imilians. Especially if they learned Mia was pregnant, and it hadn't been just one wayward night of passion. Mia may have been thrown out of town. Isaac definitely would have been. The Warriors of Vale's reputation would have been permanently destroyed as far as Imil was concerned. And Imil was too powerful and too important to Mia for her to let that happen. As for why she did finally tell him, it was a combination of things. I think Isaac suggested you and Nowell would make a good couple, and suggested to Mia that they should encourage it. Mia objected, much more than it seemed to warrant. Finally, Isaac remembered that Nowell was 'premature' and put it together with Mia's objections then. He asked her, and she reluctantly admitted it." Garet sighed. "Isaac and Jenna's marriage was… strained already. You were all that had been keeping them together. But that revelation broke it, and your parents divorced very soon after. Mia was already divorced by that time. But Isaac still wishes that he had stayed together with Mia. Instead, they've both been suffering for years."

This all made far too much sense to Matthew. Everyone had always tried to present his parents as childhood sweethearts. The start of their adventure thirty years ago always portrayed Isaac in the light of a knight going to rescue his princess Jenna from her kidnappers. If that had been the case, Matthew probably would've been almost thirty now, his parents happily married soon after the Golden Sun event. Instead, Isaac had spent more than ten years after the Golden Sun secretly courting Mia, and Jenna had been completely overlooked. It was heartbreaking to hear that his parents weren't what he had been led to believe. He had gotten used to the idea that they had fallen out of love. He had never considered that they had never been in love in the first place.

But, as heartbreaking as that was, his mind was drawn to his situation. He and Sveta were deeply in love, but convinced it would never work. There was too much at stake! Generally, the people of Morgal loved him and his friends for their help in ending the Grave Eclipse. But there was a faction that blamed them for it, just as the Imilians blamed Isaac for the Golden Sun. Still, the faction was small enough that Matthew would always be welcomed warmly as a visitor. But if he married Sveta, that changed things immensely. Now they could see him as an outsider who manipulated Sveta during their time together to win his way onto the throne. It would be seen by many that he had caused the Grave Eclipse to reduce the beastman numbers, and then marry their queen to take over. They would see themselves just a step away from being slaves once more.

And the fact that his parents were Warriors of Vale didn't help either. Though Matthew held no official political positions, he was still a political force whether he liked it or not. Many nations would hate him by association with the Golden Sun, and would see his marriage to Sveta as an endorsement of the Warriors of Vale and the Golden Sun. That would make many enemies. Those nations who were in favor of the Warriors of Vale would be fine with it, but once again Morgal's enemies would see it as a maneuver to ally with those nations against them.

Already there was a faction within Morgal that disapproved of Sveta as queen. The Tuaparang, Kaocho, and Bilibin were all vocal in their disapproval of the beastman nation. And while Sana was friendly with Morgal officially, there were still many hard feelings among the citizenry of both nations against the other over the still too recent war. Morgal was too weak after the Grave Eclipse to fight anyone on their own, let alone so many. Ayuthay and Yamata would have no trouble sending support, but both were too small on their own to be of much use. They were more of city-states than nations. Champa would be willing to send support, but receiving support from pirates was just as likely to make you enemies as it was to defeat them. No matter how Matthew and Sveta had considered it, Morgal could not afford their love.

But having heard about his father, Matthew saw things in a new light. It was true, his father had rarely been happy that he had seen. They had their moments, but his father always went back to his brooding too soon. He hid himself in his research, in training his son, in anything to keep his mind from wandering where it would. Jenna always had love in her eyes for her family, but it wasn't enough. She could give love, but she could never receive it from Isaac. He tried, so hard, but he simply couldn't. It had led to Matthew being very quiet growing up, and he had never allowed himself to consider his own happiness. It seemed to him that life was about duty, and happiness was fleeting. It had been a miserable way to grow up. And now he could see that Mia's family must have been going through the same thing. Was that why Nowell and Rief had been so eager to leave home and study with Kraden?

Still, his problem was on a whole different level than his father's, wasn't it? Perhaps Isaac and Mia would've been thrown out of Imil, and maybe the Warriors of Vale would even have ended up with rich and powerful Imil as their enemy. But so what? They already had half the world hating them, and many of those were rich and powerful as well. It wouldn't have started a war. Sveta and Matthew were surely in a much more delicate situation.

Were they really? So many already hated Morgal, it's not like Matthew and Sveta's relationship could make them more hated. And no nation would be able to justify going to war over a marriage, even one as significant as this. And it would bring allies as well. Kalay, which was neutral to Morgal, was very pro Warrior of Vale. They would clearly side with Morgal if Matthew were a part of it. And the very title of Warrior of Vale was a deterrent to violence. You may hate them and want them dead, but everyone knew how powerful they were. You didn't want to be the first ones to have to face them. Kalay had been attacked a few times, and it had only served to cement in the eyes of the world that it was a bad idea to fight Warriors of Vale. And within Morgal, would a marriage like this really be seen as bringing them closer to slavery? Most of the people loved Matthew and Sveta. And already Sveta had shown that she was a brilliant politician. Few people would believe Matthew was the power there. And Matthew would have very little chance of taking over even if he wanted to. While he was loved for helping stop the Grave Eclipse, the first name the people of Morgal thought of in that regard was Volecheck. He had fired the Apollo Lens, and Sveta was his blood. No, Morgal extremists wouldn't have much to complain about even if Matthew married their queen.

"You look like you've come to a decision," Garet said. "I recognize that steely look in your eyes. Your dad got that same look whenever he got serious about something."

Matthew nodded. "Thank you, Garet. You're right, dad would never have told me all that. I don't really blame him, either. It's not an easy thing to face, but I needed to hear it."

"So I assume you'll be headed off to Morgal soon, then?"

Matthew nodded. "But, we have time for a stop along the way."

Garet tilted his head to the side in confusion. "A stop?"

"Yes. Families have suffered enough. It's about time my dad stopped dragging his feet and claimed the woman he loves."

"Wait a minute, what?" Garet smirked. "You're going to drag your father to Imil?"

"And why not? I think thirty years is more than long enough to wait for your happily ever after."

"Well said." Both Matthew and Garet jumped at Isaac's voice. "Sorry to startle you. I never meant to eavesdrop." He shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day when my son showed more courage and maturity than I could muster."

"So… you'll do it?" Matthew asked. "You're going to Mia?"

"Yeah. Garet and Tyrell can watch Mt. Aleph." He let out a shaky breath. "I… am afraid though. What if she doesn't feel the same way for me anymore? What if I'm too late?"

Matthew thought about this for a moment. "Then you'll just have to win her over all over again."

Isaac smiled. It was a shy smile that hadn't been seen in almost thirty years. "I guess I could do that."

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><p>Author's Notes: Well, that's that! I hope you enjoyed it. I do have worked out in my head how Isaac's meeting with Mia goes (answer: very well). After which Isaac accompanies Matthew to Morgal to meet Sveta, and I have worked out how that goes (answer: not as well, lots of drama there!). Whether I write up those or not remains to be seen. The IsaacMia thing would just be another one-shot, and probably shorter than this one. The Matthew/Sveta thing would likely grow out of control and become a long romance/drama/action story. Since I'm not too willing to commit to a long project right now you're much more likely to get the Isaac/Mia meeting if you get anything. It would be more than just Isaac and Mia getting together though, as I have Nowell being there finding out about Isaac being her dad and all that. So if I do write it I think it would be fun and I would get some drama thrown in there. Nonetheless, let me know what you think. And if any of you mudshippers like the timeline I presented here to explain how mudshipping works with Dark Dawn, feel free to use it with or without giving me credit! See you next time!


	2. Hoping for the Future

Author's Notes: Hey! Bet you all thought I had forgotten about this. Well I haven't. Now, I know I said that "Learning from the Past" would be a one-shot, and would have a sequel one-shot in Imil. I thought it made more sense to make it a two-shot, and that way anyone following this story would get an alert. However, this will be separate from my Spiritshipping story which I will release later. So you'll either have to follow me rather than the story, or just keep an eye out for it. Anyway, without further ado, here's part 2 of "Learning from the Past".

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><p>It was very strange for Matthew to watch his father get more and more nervous the closer they got to Imil. They had visited a number of times when Matthew was younger, and it always made Isaac quiet. Matthew used to assume it was just because there wasn't much to say while traveling. Now, however, Isaac was visibly nervous.<p>

"You'll be fine, dad."

Isaac nodded. "Sure. I'm not worried or anything if that's what you're thinking. It'll just be like all those times we visited throughout the years. I mean, not just like that, because we're going for different reasons of course. But still, there's no reason to think any of that would worry me or-"

"Dad, you're babbling."

"Am I? Sorry." Isaac took a deep breath. They could see the light from the Mercury Lighthouse already, and both knew the city would be in view as soon as they crested the next hill.

"It's okay to be anxious you know. I mean, it has been a long time since you and Mia were last… close."

"Too long," Isaac agreed. "At least too long for me. Mia's probably been fine. It's not like she had much of a reason to hold on to what we had."

"You're being silly," Matthew said. "She probably can't let go of her feelings any more than you can. As a matter of fact, there are a number of things Rief said during our journey that make a lot more sense now that I know about you two. I'm sure she still has feelings for you."

"What sort of things did Rief say?"

"Well, nothing specific," Matthew thought back to his journey. "Just… telling stories from home. It's the sort of feel I got about his home life. Things just fit better now. Kind of like when I thought about you and mom. I had accepted things the way they were, but when I learned about you and Mia I saw everything in a new light and things just made more sense."

"I see." Isaac thought about that. It didn't appear that Matthew's words managed to relax him much. Truth be told, Matthew was somewhat worried as well. He was pretty sure, given what he knew, that Mia still liked Isaac, but he wasn't certain. Even if she did, what if she still didn't want to get back together with Isaac? There were all sorts of reasons she could have not to.

Matthew didn't let any of these concerns show. For once, Matthew had to be the stable, mature person for his father to lean on. The role reversal was odd, but in some ways it was very similar to his role during the eclipse. He always had to be strong. Sveta was the only one who knew the real extent of his insecurities at that time.

Matthew shook his head. If he hoped to be strong for his father, it wouldn't do to be thinking about Sveta right now. Matthew looked up and saw they had nearly reached the gates of Imil while he was lost in thought. He hadn't been here since the eclipse happened. When Imil had been rebuilt following the Golden Sun event, it had been made into a walled city, but those walls had been more for looks than anything else. They told the world "Mercury Lighthouse is ours," but they weren't practical fortifications. That had changed. There was now a deep trench dug around the city, followed by a line of sharp pikes, and then the walls of the city. It appeared the walls had been hastily reinforced, with towers appearing periodically and small rooms with thin windows archers could shoot out of. No doubt the light from Mercury Lighthouse mostly kept the eclipse monsters from entering, but these people were prepared for the worst.

"Who goes the- oh, it's you." While the walls were now empty of sentries, there were still two guards at the city entrance. "Sorry, Sir Isaac, didn't recognize you at first."

"That's quite alright. I hope your lovely city fared the eclipse well."

"Indeed we did," the guard beamed. "The initial moments were a little intense, and we had to evacuate all the civilians to the lighthouse, but thanks to lady Mia we retook the city proper in no time. She truly is the guardian angel of Imil."

Isaac smiled. "Glad to hear it. May we enter?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sure Mia and Piers will be happy to see you!"

"Piers is here as well?"

"Yes, sir. He and Nowell arrived just the other day."

Matthew wondered how that would affect things. He had been hoping Isaac and Mia would be able to have a quiet, private reunion. But Piers would surely want to say hello to Isaac as well, and it could be difficult to get the two of them alone. And then there was Nowell. His half-sister. It was still very strange to think of her like that. That would be an awkward meeting, knowing what he knew now.

Isaac still knew the way straight to Mia's home. Matthew kept an eye on the people of Imil, trying to gauge their reactions to them. He wanted to know if Isaac and Mia would still have the same problem they had all those years ago of the people rejecting him. He did see a few cold looks from some of the older folk, but everyone mostly seemed neutral to them. A couple of people not much younger than Matthew even looked quite pleased to see Isaac. It looked like time had indeed managed to change the mindset of these people.

They reached the door to Mia's house in no time. Matthew was tempted to knock on the door himself when he saw his father hesitating, but decided to give Isaac the time he needed to steel himself for the encounter. Finally, Isaac gave a tentative knock.

"Coming," a voice called from inside. Matthew was fairly certain it was Nowell. A second later the blue haired girl opened the door. "Oh, Matthew, Isaac! We weren't expecting to see you! Please, come in!" She gestured inside, and the pair gratefully stepped in from the cold. "If we had known you were coming we would've made Piers stick around. He's gone to do some repairs on the ship. Why don't I run out and get him?"

"That's alright," Matthew said quickly. "We can talk with him later."

"Uh, yeah," Isaac agreed. Matthew could see he was sweating, but he hoped Nowell wouldn't notice. "Is your mom home?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go." They followed Nowell through the house until they reached a room with several couches set up around a fireplace, a large table in between them. "Mother, look what the cat dragged in!"

Mia was seated in one of the spots closest to the fire, sipping tea. "Oh!" She stood up quickly, placing her cup on the table. "Isaac, why didn't you let me know you were coming over? I would've done more to prepare."

"That's alright, Mia. You don't need to go to any trouble on our account." Isaac hesitated. "So, uh, it's good to see you."

"Thank you. You too."

Matthew decided to help out at this point before things could get too uncomfortable for the two of them. "Nowell, I was wondering if I could speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Hmm? Sure, I guess. We'll be in my room."

"Break a leg, dad," Matthew whispered in passing, following Nowell to her room. He closed her door after they entered, making sure they wouldn't overhear their parents.

"So, what's up?" Nowell asked.

Matthew hadn't worked this part out. He had given his father privacy, but had no clue what he was going to discuss with Nowell. "Well, you seem… good."

"…Yes. I'm doing well."

"That's nice," Matthew nodded. "You seem more relaxed than I remember."

Nowell actually blushed at this. "I think Piers has had that effect on me."

"Oh. And, how are things between you two?"

"W-what do you mean?"

Matthew shook his head. "Kraden said you were in love."

"What?" she looked shocked. "I never said anything of the sort to him! I just… he probably just… misinterpreted."

"I see. So you don't like Piers?"

"Well, it's not that I don't like Piers. I mean, everyone who meets him likes him. He's very likable. But, I don't necessarily like him like him."

"Nowell, you're not fooling anyone," Matthew said. "There's no harm in admitting it."

Nowell struggled for another moment, deciding how much to say, or perhaps just how to say it. "Maybe… maybe I do like him. But it's not that simple."

"Never seems to be these days," Matthew agreed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Never mind. I'll tell you later. So, what's going on with you and Piers? Is it the age gap that's the problem."

Nowell actually chuckled at that. "Yes, and no. The age gap between him and me isn't an issue. I mean, he's lemurian. Anyone he wanted to date would be much younger than him unless he went back to lemuria. And even if he did go there to find a girl, they have children so rarely that she would still probably be much older or much younger than him by our standards. And he's been affected by the Golden Sun. We're not sure if the warriors of Vale have stopped aging or just had their aging slowed down a lot, but either way Piers will live much longer than even other lemurians. He'll probably marry someone at some point, whether it's me or some other girl, and after she's grown old and died she'll want him to be happy and move on. And eventually I'm sure he will and his next wife will be young enough to be his first wife's granddaughter. If his aging is completely stopped then eventually he'll be dating women young enough to be my great granddaughter's great granddaughter."

Matthew thought about that. He supposed it made sense. The warriors of Vale only had so many options. If they didn't get together with each other then they could either stay single forever, or else date knowing full well that they'll have to watch their partner grow old without them. Frankly neither option sounded very appealing to Matthew.

"I mean, take mom for example. Even if she and dad were still together, eventually she'd outlive him, and she'd still be in her prime. I certainly wouldn't want her to just spend the next two hundred years mourning her long dead husband, and neither would he. No one expects that from the warriors of Vale."

"Yeah," Matthew agreed. "It's probably not something they're thinking about that much yet, though."

"Well, Piers is. Being lemurian, he already thinks of other people as short-lived. Kind of sad your mom and dad didn't stay together. They are some of the very few people who could've given eternal love a go."

"Yeah, I suppose," Matthew shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright. It's just… well, things are a bit odd right now."

"Is that why you came to Imil?"

"I suppose it is."

"So, what's the big deal then?" she asked. "I mean, it's not really about me and Piers is it?"

"No. We didn't even know you'd be here." Matthew kept his eyes on the floor.

"Still. You're not comfortable looking at me. You don't think I'm too young for Piers, do you?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, the age gap is fine."

"Is it that he knew my mother before I was even born? I think that's the part that makes him a little uncomfortable."

Matthew could understand that. It was one thing to know you'd be dating women a generation younger than you, but it was another when you were good friends with their parents. "No. That doesn't bother me."

"Well it's not about that time is it?" she asked. "I thought we both understood there was nothing to that."

"Oh, by the Wise One, don't remind me!" Matthew worked hard to try to block out the memory of the incident she mentioned.

Nowell jumped back, surprised. "Come on, I didn't think I was that bad of a kisser."

"No, it wasn't that at all," he groaned. It had been fine at the time. The two of them saw each other occasionally, but not much. As they were getting older, both had wanted to see what the big deal was about with the other sex. Nowell couldn't do anything with any of the local boys without things getting awkward after. Matthew was living at lookout cabin, and just didn't know many girls. So when Nowell had suggested they practice kissing it had seemed perfect. There would be no emotional attachment, just kissing. Just to see what it was like. Matthew had been 13 then, while Nowell had just turned 15. The kissing hadn't been bad. Inexperienced, sure, but not bad. "There's… nothing wrong."

"'By the Wise One, don't remind me'? That's not nothing."

Matthew wished now he had thought more before speaking. He certainly didn't want to be the one to break to Nowell that her 'father' was not really her father. And telling her that her first kiss was with her half-brother probably wouldn't go over well. But how else could he explain his reaction.

"It's just, kind of, not something I want to think about."

"Why? I mean, you say it wasn't that I was a terrible kisser. And if you have feelings for me I wouldn't think you would be unhappy about kissing me." Nowell waited for an answer, but Matthew remained silent. "Okay, so maybe you've fallen in love with someone, and they're upset that your first kiss was with someone you didn't even care for."

"No. I mean… there is someone, but she doesn't care about that."

"I see. Well, congratulations on that. But if this isn't about my relation with Piers, and it isn't about my relation with you-" she stopped as Matthew twitched at the word relation. "What? You said you don't have feelings for me?"

"I don't!"

"Then what other kind of relation could you mean?"

"I didn't say anything about that. Look," Matthew pleaded, "can you just drop it?"

"I mean, you can't mean diplomatic relations, because it's not like anyone would care about what we did one time four years ago. You can't mean family relation, because we're not related." Matthew tried his best to keep from showing anything at what she said. Apparently it didn't work. "You do know we're not related, right? Your dad's an only child. Both my parents are only children. Your mom has one brother, and that's it. We're not cousins or anything. Our grandparents never set foot in each other's towns so we can't even be second cousins. And it's not like Jenna or Mia could've faked our births. You're not suggesting your uncle Felix is secretly my dad or something like that? He disappeared long before I was born."

"No, it's not that," Matthew prayed she would just stop. She was getting too close to the unpleasant truth.

"And you're clearly Isaac's son, so it's not like Jenna had an affair. You can't mean that Isaac is my father, because… well that's just… you're not saying that are you?"

"I'm not… saying it."

"So you're implying it?"

"I'm trying to drop it all together."

"Matthew, look me in the eye!" Nowell commanded. Matthew reluctantly did so. "Now, tell me that you believe my father is Frederick of Imil, and not Isaac."

Matthew swallowed. "Well, um, what I believe isn't really-"

"Just tell me!" She gave Matthew a glare that would make eclipse monsters cringe.

"Look, the truth is," Matthew swallowed nervously. "The truth is that you're my half-sister. Isaac is your father."

She stared down Matthew, apparently trying to discern how serious Matthew was being. "You're mistaken."

"If you want to believe that, it's fine with me."

"That's not enough. You need to realize it too."

"It's true though."

"Matthew, that cannot be true!" She grit her teeth. "Even when Isaac and Mia visited, things were always weird between them. They couldn't have gotten together with things that weird!"

"No, things are strained because they were together."

"They both married other people."

"That's a long story," Matthew said. "One I only just learned. But the real reason we're here in Imil is because Isaac wants to restart his relationship with Mia."

Nowell was practically growling. "Even if that part is true, it doesn't mean that Isaac's my father. I'll prove it."

"How do you intend to do that?"

"How else?" she said, heading to the door. "I'm going to ask them."

"Wait! I don't think-" It was no use. Nowell was out the door and headed toward the main room.

"Mother!"

At Nowell's voice, Isaac and Mia jumped apart like guilty teenagers. Matthew could see they had been holding hands. What had they just interrupted?

* * *

><p>"So, uh, it's good to see you."<p>

"Thank you," Mia nodded. "You too."

Matthew looked between them for a moment before speaking up. "Nowell, I was wondering if I could speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Hmm? Sure, I guess. We'll be in my room."

Matthew paused for a second by Isaac. "Break a leg, dad."

"I wonder what's going on with them?" Mia wondered. "But, I'm being a poor host. Please, sit down. Would you like something to drink? I'm sure you could use some tea after walking here."

"Uh, sure," Isaac nodded as he sat down. "Tea sounds great."

While Mia busied herself with that, Isaac tried to think how best to talk to Mia. He ran through a few different possible scenarios in his mind before he noticed a cup was being held in front of him.

"Your tea."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He took the cup, gratefully wrapping his cold hands around it. "Thanks."

"You're spacing out. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," he said too quickly. "I mean, of course there are things on my mind, but nothing's really bothering me if that's what you mean. I'm just thinking about the normal things that I think about. It-"

Mia giggled, her hand in front of her mouth. "Isaac, you're rambling."

"Really?" He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Matthew said the same thing."

"You're nervous."

"What? Why would I be nervous?"

Mia smiled, and Isaac found himself looking at her smile, which made him think about her lips, and how cute and kissable they looked.

"I don't know, but you are. You know how well I can read you." He nodded. She could probably read him as well as anyone, despite their years apart. "You have two different kinds of nervous. When you're nervous, but you feel you need to be strong, you get really quiet. Whenever we got close to the lighthouses you got quiet like that. Or when your marriage was struggling and you felt you needed to be strong for Matthew, you got quiet. And then you have this nervous. You babble and get awkward and it means you're nervous about something that's more about just you. It's awfully cute."

She thought he was cute. His spirits soared at that. "I… suppose I do." Mia sat back, letting him think about how to say what he wanted to say. "So, you heard about Rief and Matthew's part in the eclipse?" He finally said, chickening out of what he wanted to say for the moment.

"Yes. Kraden and Rief both sent me letters about it. It sounds like they were very heroic." Mia hesitated, and her voice got quieter. "I still can't believe that Alex is alive."

"We're lucky they did so well when people like Alex and the Tuaparang were involved." Isaac could've slapped himself for bringing that up, when he knew Mia's mind would go straight to Alex's involvement. Alex had always been a sore point for her. Isaac had to steer the conversation towards something happier. "It seems that Matthew's fallen in love."

Mia smiled warmly at that. "How nice. Who's the lucky girl?"

"Sveta."

Mia looked surprised at that. "The queen of Morgal? I knew she travelled with them but I hadn't realized… well, good for them."

"That's actually why we're away from lookout cabin right now. We're headed to Morgal. I'd like to meet Sveta."

Mia nodded. "From the letters I've read she seems lovely. I would like to meet all of Rief's travelling companions sometime."

"Yeah, they sound great," Isaac agreed. "They managed to get a lot more royalty in their group than we did."

Mia laughed again. "Closest we had was Ivan." Mia suddenly seemed to realize something and looked over to Isaac. "You're headed to Belinsk?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, Imil isn't exactly on the way. Why did you come here?"

"I can't visit a friend? I don't exactly leave the cabin often, so I may as well visit while I'm away."

"True," she agreed. "I don't buy it, but that's true."

He should've known he couldn't fool her. "Well, truth is…" how could he go about this with Mia? It had been almost two decades since they were last together. "…truth is, things aren't simple between Matthew and Sveta. It seems that they're both in love with each other, but they also agreed not to do anything about it." Mia nodded, still waiting to see where he was going with this. "You see, things are difficult in Morgal right now. They thought it would be best, politically speaking, for them to stay apart. Sound familiar?"

"Of course," Mia said quietly. "Sveta and Matthew sound very mature. It took us a long time to come to that conclusion. They have my support."

"Not mine," Isaac said quickly. "I told Matthew he was making the biggest mistake of his life. I told him he would regret it forever."

"It's not so bad," Mia shook her head. "You get used to it."

"Getting used to pain is not the same as getting rid of it."

"Sometimes, though, it's the best you can hope for."

"And you believe that?"

Mia looked up, catching Isaac's eyes. "It's worked so far." She tried to keep any emotion from showing, but Isaac could see the sadness she was holding back.

"But it hasn't worked. Or maybe you haven't noticed that neither of our marriages turned out well."

"That's unfair."

"Matthew was not raised well. I hate to admit it, but he wasn't. He deserved parents who really loved each other, without reservations."

"Then it couldn't have been us, either. Things wouldn't have gone well with us and Imil. We would've spent our lives wondering if we did the right thing. I would've worried that we had been selfish."

"I'm not saying they deserved parents who never doubted themselves. I'm saying they deserved parents who never doubted their love." Isaac gave a thin smile. "That, we could have given them."

"So, you told Matthew to go after Sveta?"

"I did. He didn't get it at first. I felt I couldn't tell him why I felt the way I did. It felt like I would've been badmouthing his mother. But Garet told him. Garet told him everything."

"How did he react?"

"Very well. He was upset learning that Jenna and I weren't what he thought, but he understood. And then he surprised me. He called me out. He let me see how hypocritical I was being. Sure, it's not wrong to try to keep your children from making your mistakes. But what if it's not too late to fix your own mistakes? He's the one who insisted we visit Imil. He told me that if everything Garet said was true, then it was time I stopped hiding." Isaac scooted next to Mia, and when she didn't move away, he reached out and held her hand. "It's about time I really let you know that I still love you. I still want to be with you. Mia, I spent twenty years apart from the woman I love. It was unfair to Jenna, and Matthew, but it was also unfair to you, and to me. I don't want to keep punishing myself. I think we could be happy!"

Mia stared at their interlocked fingers. "Isaac… I want to say 'yes'. I really do. But… we have children."

"Children who want to see us happy."

"And then there's Imil."

"Imil has changed, Mia. The world has changed."

Mia let out a shaky breath. "Isaac, I'm scared. I've gotten so used to this pain. It's become dull. But I remember when we first broke up. It hurt so much. What if things happen again? What if Imil changes back? What if you get hurt? There's so much that could go wrong, it just seems easier to deal with the pain I know."

"I felt the same way," Isaac agreed. "After all this time, I didn't know if you would still love me. Matthew had to be the responsible adult and tell me to stop sulking and take a chance. I know how bad it could hurt. But do you remember how good it felt? To be completely in love, and loved in return? Mia, I want that. Maybe it is selfish, but I think it's about time for our happy ending."

"Our happy ending?" Mia giggled at the term.

"That's how Matthew put it," Isaac grinned.

"Our happy ending?" this time when she said it, she really seemed to be thinking about it, and all it implied. "I… I guess we could give it a try."

Isaac smiled, and with his free hand brushed some of Mia's hair out of her face. She leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. Isaac leaned down towards the woman of his dreams, feeling her breath on his face.

"Mother!"

At Nowell's voice they quickly jumped apart, Isaac silently cursing the girl's timing. Matthew came in the room right after her, giving Isaac an apologetic look.

"Nowell? W-what is it?"

"Could you please explain to Matthew that he's mistaken?"

"Mistaken about what, dear?"

"Tell Matthew that Isaac isn't my father!"

Mia cringed at this. Isaac wondered just how Matthew and Nowell's conversation had gone to bring them to this point.

"Mother, at least tell me. Who is my father?"

"You know very well Frederick is your father. I mean, he raised you, he taught to you read, he-"

"I don't mean like that. I mean biologically. Tell me father is my father biologically."

Mia bit her bottom lip. "You know biology isn't everything."

Nowell was looking really worried now. "Mother, please. Answer the question."

Mia looked to Isaac for support. Isaac was as clueless as Mia. "Nowell, dear," Mia took a big breath. "Biologically speaking, your father is… Isaac."

Nowell squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, perhaps trying to keep tears away. "Why? Why did you lie to me?"

"I never meant to hurt you," Mia sounded ashamed. "But I had too. Neither Isaac nor Frederick knew the truth for years. I had to keep it secret. If I hadn't, Imil would've turned against the Warriors of Vale."

"You could have told me!"

"I wanted to. But… I was afraid. Especially after Frederick found out."

"Is that when you divorced?"

Mia nodded. "I didn't want to lose you too."

"But you lost me anyway! Why do you think Rief and I went to study with Kraden? Away from Imil? You always kept this distance between us. Between you and father too."

"I'm so sorry," Mia began to cry. "I just didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"And it backfired spectacularly!" Nowell started pacing, trying to calm herself. "Mother, I know you had good intentions but it just didn't work! Look at us!" Nowell stopped pacing at gestured between herself and her mother. "You're crying, I'm mad, and even Matthew and Isaac have been affected!" She took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm down.

"I know. You're right," Mia whispered. "But what could I have done? Telling you would've done more harm than good."

"Maybe. I don't know," Nowell groaned. "But… you've been so emotionally distant. You've been afraid of telling Rief and me the truth. You were afraid of dad finding out. You two separate and you still seem afraid of Isaac getting close. Enough is enough." Nowell rubbed her temples for a moment. "Mother, I'm not saying you should have gone out and announced the truth to all Imil. Maybe you were even right to keep it from me, I'm still not thinking clearly enough about that to judge. The big problem is that you let this secret define you, and define how you acted with all those around you. I know it's a big secret, but you could've tried to open up more emotionally. You could've been a person with a secret, rather than a secret disguised as a person."

Mia nodded slowly, digesting her daughter's words. "That's very harsh of you to say, but I suppose it's all true." Mia took a shaky breath, trying to hold herself together. "Well then, what do you think I should do now?"

Nowell looked up. "You're really asking for my advice?"

"I am. I've been, as you put it, a secret so long that I'm not sure I remember how to be a person. It just became easier to become the secret. So now I'm asking, what should a person do in my situation?"

Nowell was quiet for a long time. She obviously hadn't been expecting this. Isaac stayed quiet, just looking between the mother and daughter. "You should be happy," Nowell finally said.

"That's a tall order," Mia replied. "I've hurt you, and I've hurt everyone around me. What right do I have to happiness?"

"Happiness has nothing to do with rights, mother," Nowell said. "Everyone hurts people. You can't go back and change what you did, and moping about it won't help. But people want to be happy. Sometimes it's hard, but people will do what it takes to be happy." Isaac smiled at the young woman's wisdom. It seemed she and Matthew had both managed to mature while their silly parents weren't paying attention. "I was just talking to Matthew about eternal love. It looks like you have the chance to try it out. I'm still mad, and upset, but I'll work that out and having you beating yourself up over it won't help me in the least. Maybe if you really open up and love someone that will help you be the mother Rief and I always needed."

"Nowell…" Mia struggled to find the words she wished to express. Finally she gave up, quickly going to her daughter and wrapping her in a hug. "Thank you."

"I love you, mom," Nowell whispered. "Always have, always will."

"And I love you."

Isaac looked away in some futile attempt to give them more privacy. He was tearing up at the scene. He looked to his own son, who smiled warmly at him. Isaac didn't know how things would turn out for himself and Mia, but with their children supporting them like this it didn't seem like anything could go wrong.

"Now," Nowell said, pulling away from her mother's embrace, "I think you and Isaac have some catching up to do." She gave her mother a grin. "I'll try not to interrupt you two lovebirds like that again."

Mia laughed, then turned to Matthew. He was completely caught off guard when Mia caught him in a hug. "Thank you for bringing your father here to me."

Matthew returned the hug awkwardly. "You're welcome. It… it seemed like the right thing to do."

Mia released him and turned toward Isaac. "Care for a walk?"

"In this weather?"

Mia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I suppose it is rather cold out. I guess you'll just have to keep me warm."

Isaac was up in an instant. "Take care, you two," he said to the kids. "We'll be back later."

Matthew and Nowell watched their parents leave, looking every bit the young couple in love.

"It's rather sweet, isn't it?" Nowell asked. Matthew just nodded. "So where do you go from here?"

Matthew frowned. He thought back to the last conversation he had with Sveta. "After this comes the hard part."

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: I hope everyone liked it! I'd like to thank all my reviewers for encouraging me, as well as my beta reader Elina Trevisan, who manages to be a pretty cool beta even if she's not a mudshipper. I'd also like to thank jollygreendragon in particular, as his story "Drops of Jupiter" is awesome, and he suggested that I should write the definitive Spiritshipping story. Now, I'm not saying that my Spiritshipping story will manage to be the definitive story of its type, but I will be writing with that idea in mind. As such, the romance will come first, with the adventure being built around it. Hopefully it will work out well. Also, don't expect it really soon. As some of you may know, November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write a novel 50,000 words or longer during the month of November. It's pretty intense (or so I hear, this is will be my first time participating). So for the next month I will be consumed with that, rather than fanfiction. Afterwards I'll get on it soon as I can, but I might feel like taking a break from writing for a bit. So I will definitely write that Spiritshipping story, but you won't see it until sometime in December at the absolute earliest. Still, don't give up on me! I love you guys! Please review!<p> 


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